Rocks stood atop Wapol's corpse, holding a strange, round Devil Fruit. The fruit's surface resembled a tightly closed mouth, confirming its identity—the Baku Baku no Mi, once belonging to Wapol.
A dark tide churned beneath Rocks' boots, the remnants of his waning Darkness powers. He eyed the Devil Fruit and grinned.
"Finally found something decent. This thing was wasted on garbage like him."
With a sneer, he kicked Wapol's lifeless body away like trash, then shoved the Baku Baku no Mi into his mouth, swallowing it whole—unceremoniously and unchewed.
His jaw stretched unnaturally wide, nearly reaching his ears. After smacking his lips once, he casually picked up a gun from the ground... and swallowed it.
Moments later, his right arm shifted—transforming into the barrel of a firearm.
Rocks looked it over with a satisfied grunt.
But a weak voice interrupted his moment.
"You... bastard... you killed the king..."
Rocks turned toward the voice.
It was Dalton, Drum Kingdom's captain of the guard.
With a faint chuckle, Rocks raised his hand to summon darkness, but only a few thin wisps of black mist emerged—barely enough to flutter leaves.
"Tch... so it's finally gone."
The residual power from the Dark-Dark Fruit, long fused to his soul, had been dwindling since Uchiha Chiga took its original. Until now, it had been enough to use in short bursts.
But after absorbing the Swallow-Swallow Fruit, the last traces of that darkness had vanished.
Dalton, meanwhile, took the chance to rise. White mist puffed from his nostrils. Horns sprouted from his skull. His body bulked up and his face became covered in thick, brownish fur.
He had transformed—Ushi Ushi no Mi, Bison Model.
Rocks, annoyed by his loss of Darkness, narrowed his eyes at Dalton.
The Zoan Fruit wasn't impressive... but it did present the perfect chance to test his new ability: swallowing Devil Fruit users and copying their powers.
He laughed eerily and vanished with a blur of movement.
Dalton had no chance to react—Rocks swallowed him whole in one gulp.
Patting his stomach with a showman's pride, Rocks waited. Seconds later, horns sprouted from his head. His arms turned to hoofed limbs.
Though the transformation was similar to Dalton's, Rocks' massive physique made him look more like a black-furred beast than a bison.
He stomped the ground hard.
The impact split the earth with a massive hundred-meter-long fissure. On Dalton, this fruit had been average—but on Rocks, it was monstrous.
Returning to his base form, Rocks' expression grew twisted with joy. He raised his arms and howled at the sky,
"Gurarara! This is even better than the Dark-Dark Fruit! Perfect for me!"
Just as he turned to leave, his Observation Haki picked up something nearby.
"...Hmph. Another fool who doesn't know their place."
He snapped his head in the direction of the presence—instantly locking eyes with a small figure peeking from behind a thick tree.
The figure yelped and tried to run, only to crash directly into Rocks.
Rocks looked down. A large red hat covered most of the figure's face, with antler-shaped decorations sticking out from either side.
When the figure slowly raised its head, Rocks raised a brow.
"What the hell? A raccoon dog?"
The small reindeer's fur bristled.
"B-Bastard! I'm not a raccoon dog! I'm a reindeer! A reindeer!!!"
Rocks didn't seem convinced.
"A talking raccoon dog... what kind of joke is this? What's your name?"
"I told you I'm not a raccoon dog!" he squeaked. "My name is Chopper!"
Chopper tried to sound tough, but his voice trembled, and his body was clearly shaking with fear.
He had only left the castle to fetch a newspaper for Doctor Kureha, but stumbled upon Wapol being effortlessly defeated... and then eaten.
At first, he'd been happy. Wapol was a tyrant. He had killed Dr. Hiluluk, and Chopper had always seen him as pure evil.
But watching Rocks devour Dalton, a man he respected, had stunned him. He had stood frozen in fear—and that hesitation had led to his discovery.
Now, Chopper stood trembling before the towering monster, sure he was about to be eaten next.
Rocks crouched, resting a hand on his chin, observing Chopper with unsettling amusement.
"So why can you walk and talk like a human?"
"I-I ate a strange fruit one day!"
"It had weird spirals on it and tasted horrible!" Chopper said.
Rocks smirked. "Sounds familiar."
He could guess it already—the fruit Chopper ate was a Zoan-type. His mind scanned through possibilities, trying to recall one that gave intelligence and speech.
"And what can you do besides walk upright and talk?"
Chopper flinched at Rocks' grin.
"N-Nothing else! That's all!"
"That's all?" Rocks tilted his head. His mind flicked to a particular fruit... and a wicked smirk stretched across his face.
The name of the fruit was ridiculous, but it fit the clues.
He looked down at the little reindeer, who stood still, eyes wide and legs trembling.
Because now, another idea had begun to form.
I've held up my end.....so, where are my power stones?